A. RODDICK/S. Stakhovsky
6-2, 6-1


Q. What was more fun, almost beating Wade in HORSE or tonight?
ANDY RODDICK: Good, I was so close. I could have kept it to two feet and hoped that he had an aberration of a jump shot. But wasn't meant to be. I mean, at least I made him go to like the layups and the fancy, you know, all that stuff that I just he just took it out of my hands.

Q. You were definitely better at basketball than he was at tennis, right?
ANDY RODDICK: Exactly. Well, I think it's a little probably skewed. Although I didn't play much in high school, I still have a shot at basketball before.
I don't think he had touched a tennis racquet in about 10 years he said. I was hoping to win that one.

Q. You were looking forward that. Were you nervous at all really?
ANDY RODDICK: I had a blast. Yeah, I had a really, really good time.
I was pretty nervous. I got a little bit more nervous when my grand plan was to I haven't shot a basketball in a year. I mean, it's been a long time, so I was kind of tight about that.
My plan was to get out there 15, 20 minutes early and kind of shoot around a little bit. I got out there and they said, Oh, we don't have a basketball here yet.
I was like, Oh, well that's a problem. There were some holes in my plan.

Q. Larry said you guys play basketball in Austin now and then.
ANDY RODDICK: No, Larry, I mean, I don't know if we've played too much.
Sometimes when Doug comes down we'll shoot around some, but I it hadn't been in a long time.


Q. Man, he could shoot.
ANDY RODDICK: Dougy can shoot. Doug is the shocking one. He's Drain o. He's about 90% from the free throw line. He's my ace in the hole. I was hoping to go to him again, but then Wayne told me no more life lines.
I was like, Damnit. I'll have to try myself.

Q. So this match tonight was quick. I guess that's how you wanted it?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, I felt good. It's rare that you kind of walk off thinking everything kind of went the way that you wanted it to.
There's definitely that feeling when you play a whole lot of matches in a row where a lot of it your kind of muscle memory takes over a little bit.
You know, you're able to just kind of be free a little bit. I think I'm kind of getting to that point a little bit.

Q. Rafa almost went down today. That would really open up that side, I guess.
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I don't I don't know if I could have told you who was in the semis or wherever it was.
You know, but Nalbandian is tough. That was never gonna be an easy match. That seems to be a good matchup for David or I guess all the top 10 players are a good matchup for David it seems like.
I thought Rafa really dug in there and kind of gutted that one out. That was a pretty good win for him?

Q. You've got a match against Becker; you've done well against him. He's tough from the baseline, obviously.
ANDY RODDICK: He's aggressive. That makes you uncomfortable. He can hit big serves and he takes big cuts from the baseline. I've played him I know once I can think of where he was spraying the ball a little bit all over the place.
I can think of a couple other times where it was tight. You know, he was playing aggressive, and, you know, he definitely doesn't sit back and wait for much to come to him.
So you have to be sharp.

Q. When you see an opponent slam his racquet down like that and start jawing with the crowd, does that signal to you that you've beaten him pretty much at that point?
ANDY RODDICK: No, I mean, if anything, I'm just trying to tell myself just, you know, stay the course. Let him I think more so now than I used to I try to ignore it.
I don't try to think much of it. Obviously it's not sending you realize there's not a whole lot of positivity on that court. That can work a couple ways.
He can kind of tank a couple shots and be super aggressive, and all of a sudden, you know, hit a couple winners out of nowhere.
For me I kind of try to go about it the same way.


(via Sony Ericsson Open, photo/AP Photo)

Miami: Andy Roddick's 28. March Interview